The Beginning of Life
by Apon16
Summary: Prequel to The Return to Life. All journeys have a beginning. Some are tragic, some are happy, some are in between. A classic retelling of FE:A with a few minor changes that details how a tactician came to win the heart of a young princess.
1. Prologue: Invisible Ties

**Hello everybody, welcome to _The Beginning of Life,_ the prequel to _The Return to Life_. For those unfamiliar with the latter story, that is okay! Since this is a prequel, you really will not suffer if you have not read the other story. If you have read the other story, then this first chapter may come as a bit of a shock compared to my other writings. Don't worry, this is one of the few super serious chapters and we will be back to normal hijinks soon enough. Please leave a review letting me know what you think! I decided to knock the story down to T, due to not feeling it is M material. At least not yet. Carry on! **

* * *

**Prologue:**

" _But Uncle Robin, why do you have to leave?"_

" _Your father and I have to go save the world once again. Don't worry, I will bring him home for you, I promise"_

" _Please just be safe Uncle! I don't want to miss out on any presents!"_

" _Of course not, I would never dream of causing you sorrow. Your dad would kill me if I did"_

" _Robin let's go! We don't have time, you can tell Lucina all about our adventures when we come back!"_

" _Alright Chrom! Lucina, I'll be back soon. Watch over the castle while I take your Father to win this war"_

" _Bye….Uncle Robin…"_

* * *

The hooded man prepared himself to enter the throne room. Years of battle and preparation had brought him to be one of the best fighters in Ylisse. That, and his own thirst for power. Ever since he was a child, he found he wanted to be stronger than others. He would attack the neighborhood kids, but when he surpassed them, he went on to find older children from the local schools. He eventually found himself in underground fighting rings by the age of twelve, facing full grown adults. It didn't matter to him, his thirst for power was unquenchable, but he would do whatever he could to gain more of it. All of this came due to the treatment he received as a child. His father saw him as a weapon, not as a son. He was trained in combat from an early age and never shown any love like a child should. He despised it. His thirst for power stemmed from his hatred for his father and the fact that he knew not what love was. Maybe his mother could have shown some, but his father always kept her at bay. His father said he didn't want his son tainted. When he turned of age to join an army, he heard of a small elite group of humanity's best soldiers. He immediately decided he would join them to prove himself to be the best in the land. A personal quest to be more powerful than even his father. A father he disowned promptly after leaving Plegia, along with his past.

The man proved himself worthy in the Ylissean army, gaining the attention of various officers, eventually being brought before the prince himself to test his strength. Of course, he had won that battle. Nobody could match his fighting ability. The prince offered him a spot on the elite squad that he had been searching for; the Shepherds. The hooded man took the offer and made himself irreplaceable, using knowledge from his family's books to become a master in tactics. He sparred with every single one of the Shepherds, proving he was the best among them. However, he found something unexpected while in this army. He found companionship. He became best friends with the prince and the woman that would become the queen, as well as many of the other soldiers. He found he cared too much for these strong men and women to allow them to simply die in a battle, so he honed his mind and became the best tactician in all the lands. He found that the last remaining shed of compassion within himself was being kindled every minute he spend with his brothers and sisters in arms.

In three wars, not one comrade had fallen. And yet, though he was the best tactician, the best swordsman, and the best mage in all the lands, he still found that his want for power lingered. It was like a bad nightmare, always lurking on the edge of his mind. The want to surpass his father burned deeply in his heart. Which is why he found himself drawn to dark magic. He learned every trick there was to cause suffering in whoever was on the receiving ends of his spell. He wanted his enemies to quake in fear when they saw him approaching. He found himself in a curious situation during his time with the Shepherds. When he was around friends in a peaceful setting, he would joke and laugh and be a type of guy that nobody would guess could cause any harm. He cared deeply for each person and helped when he could. He desired to build a world of happiness where his friends could relax. But when he was on the battlefield, his desire for power would take over. He would scour the bloody scene, searching for more that he could test his power on. He was brutal, efficient, and had never lost a single match against a foe. His eyes would light up and a smile would plaster his face as a giddiness from killing caused a euphoric feeling to course through his veins. It was only a matter of time before one of these desires would take over, and the fate of the hooded man would be decided. Would he be a blood thirsty killer, or would he be a friend to all of man and end all wars? He could not fulfill both desires simultaneously.

The prince walked up next to the hooded man and placed a hand on his shoulder. There was a glance of knowing that passed between the two, a look that told each other to be prepared for what was on the other side of the door. This was a battle to prevent the resurrection of the Fell Dragon, Grima, and thus save mankind.

"Alright Robin, are you ready?" the prince asked. The hooded man allowed a sinister grin to plaster itself on his face as his blood thirst returned.

"Yes Chrom. Let's kill my father" Robin answered, a wicked laugh escaping his lips. He tugged his hood up further to cover his white hair and cast a shadow over his features, the way he liked to be while fighting. It kept the enemy from fleeing, as the look in Robin's eyes was full of malice and intent to kill. The two men kicked the door open and drew their blades. Across the throne room stood the dark mage Validar, the man that was Robin's father. He was the one in charge of resurrecting Grima and was the last obstacle to achieving peace. And he was the final test for Robin. The final step in achieving his dream of power. The sight of the mad caused his blood to boil. The man that had caused all of his suffering as a child. The man that had single handedly implanted a need to kill in a young boy's mind. A man that had never been nor ever would be a true father.

As Chrom and Robin approached Validar, a laugh escaped the sorcerer's lips.

"So come thee feeble men to die. Die then, as fate calls for. At the end of this day, Grima will be reborn!" Validar called out. Robin sneered at the cockiness of the old man, while Chrom tightened his grip on Falchion.

"The final battle is at hand, children of Naga. Now come see Grima's true power!"

All at once, Validar erupted into a purple flame, dark magic coursing through his body. His power had been amplified by the Fire Emblem and the sacrifices of the Plegians. He was serving as a temporary host for Grima's power, until his son took over as a permanent avatar. Validar outstretched his palm to send out a purple fireball straight towards the prince. Chrom made to block it with Falchion but Robin shoved him out of the way before the spell hit.

"Chrom, this is dark magic of a very high scale. Falchion can't block it" Robin stated, a bite to his voice as hatred pooled in him. A purple aura radiated from his body as the hatred of his father fueled his own dark magic. While it may not be enough to match Grima's power, it certainly was a force of its own right. Validar leapt into the air, seeming to float above them. He summoned forth a dense black pit in his right hand, aiming straight at Chrom. Robin quickly fired a mire spell to block whatever dark spell Validar was calling forth. Green slime covered where Validar's hand had been outstretched and the sorcerer reeled back in surprise. Chrom took the opportunity to leap up into the air and begin spinning. His sword outstretched and he used his momentum to send his sword through Validar's collarbone, a crunching sound accompanied with a spray of blood followed. When the two men landed, Validar laid slain on the floor, still covered in purple flame, while Chrom fell to a knee, panting and attempting to wipe the blood from his face. Robin rushed over to help his friend, feeling a slight disappointment in the back of his head at how weak his father had ended up being.

"Looks like that is the end. The day is won, old friend. Relax, you don't have to worry about your father anymore" Chrom smiled up to Robin. He knew of the tactician's struggles and how he had conflicting desires. He had hoped that by seeing Validar fall, the source of his wanting of power would falter. Better yet, he knew he had to be the one to kill the sorcerer. He had his suspicions that if Robin were the one to do it, he would only want more strength. As if he would not find satisfaction and only continue down the path of destruction. The two men shared a laugh as Chrom continued to wipe blood from his face, feigning disappointment at the stains on his cloak.

"YOU HAVE NOT WON YET, MORTALS" Validar's icy voice called out. Robin looked up just in time to see another dense black ball heading for Chrom's head. Instinctively, he pushed his friend out of the way and took the force of the blow head on. He fell back, noting in his mind that Validar's form was finally vanishing. He could find peace in death. He laid back, ready to accept his fate.

But death did not come, for fate is cruel. Instead he heard Chrom's voice, though it sounded so far away. Through tensed eyes he could make out the prince's face, but a searing headache kept his thoughts muddled and senses confused. Then he heard Validar's voice ringing through his consciousness for only him to hear.

"See, my child? There is no escaping your fate. I will take what I want to take and you will lay there and accept whatever pitiful excuse of a life I allow you to live. Because you will never be as strong as me. Because you are as weak as your pathetic wench of a mother" Validar's words bit deeply into Robin's soul. His eyes attempted to find a source to the words but found none other than Chrom.

" _Chrom. There is nobody else talking. So why do I hear Validar's words coming from him? Is he Validar? This must be some trick"_ Robin's hatred grew as he continued to hear his father's voice in his head. He saw red flash before him. His mind turned into a blank. All he could hear was Validar as magic energy formed in his hand. He wanted to take out his anger on somebody. Anybody. So when he felt a hand lifting him up, he struck out with the lightning blade in his hand. And what followed was the familiar sound of striking a lung. The sound of its collapse and the spurting of blood as the heart continued to pump. Robin's focus came back and he looked to see what he had hit. A feeling of weightlessness ensued as he saw a figure draped on the ground.

 _Chrom._

Robin clutched at his head, dropping to his knees. He no longer knew what was happening. Had he killed Chrom? Or was it Validar? Had he just severed his link to happiness? His head burned, searching for answers, but he couldn't recall what had just occurred. As if his mind had already blocked it out. Then he heard the laughing.

His eyes averted up to see Validar send a kick to Chrom's side, sending the prince sliding across the floor and leaving a blood trail behind him. Robin's blood began to boil again as a rage he had never known before consumed him.

"See! I told you fate would have its way. Now come, accept Grima so we can end this foolish world!" Validar smiled a victorious smile at his son. Robin was quaking on his hands and knees. Not out of fear. Maybe not even out of anguish for the first comrade of his to ever die. What was consuming Robin now was pure hatred. He dashed forward, swinging his sword in a frenzy. Validar remained unfazed and simply weaved in between Robin's slashes.

"You are too slow. You can never beat me. Just accept it." Validar stated as he effortlessly dodged Robin's flurry of swings. Robin yelled in frustration, sending a horizontal strike at Validar's head. The sorcerer pooled dark energy into his palm and reached up to grab the blade of the sword before it struck. He then reached out his other hand and sent a small burst of energy into Robin's chest, sending the tactician flying backwards across the room, his hood falling back to show his face completely.

"Don't you get it? You aren't stronger than me. You never were. Now be a good boy and watch as I kill off the rest of your impudent friends" Validar snarled as he went towards the door in order to confront the rest of the Shepherds that were waiting out in front of the Dragon's Table. Robin attempted to pull himself up from the ground but found the dark magic his father had used on him rendered him immobile.

"Damn it! I can't save my friends! How could I be so weak? Isn't there something-anything I can do to stop this!?" Robin called out desperately to himself. He felt all hope lost. And that is when he felt the aura of power coming from behind him. He used all of his will power to turn his head so he could see. The power was coming from the Fire Emblem, which was glowing in a dark purple flame similar to the one surrounding his father. It called out to him. Told him it could grant the power Robin sought. Dark flames stretched out towards the tactician and engulfed him, giving the strength to stand. And in that moment, the hooded man's fate was decided. He stood and walked shakily towards the Fire Emblem.

"You can grant me the power I need?" He asked to the Emblem. It called out "yes" to him. Robin smiled a sinister smile.

"Very well, Grima. I grant you my body. Now give me your power!"

Lightning struck down on Robin and his body was engulfed in power he had never known. He felt invincible. _Immortal._ The power radiated through his body, tearing at his humanity. He could feel Grima taking over. And then he heard that icy laugh again. Validar had returned, looking ever so pleased that Robin had ultimately accepted his fate. Robin's vision began to blur as the Fell Dragon fought for control of his body.

" _You can have this vessel when I'm done with it, Grima. For now, I have work to do"_ Robin used his will power to send Grima's soul into the recesses of his mind, instead using his own consciousness mixed with the harvesting of Grima's infinite power. Dark flames covered his hands as he smiled at his father. Validar's expression quickly turned troubled.

"What!? You shouldn't be able to control the Fell Dragon! What are—" Validar's words were cut short when Robin burst across the room in blinding speed, sending a flaming hand straight through his father's chest. He buried his arm in him up to the elbow, letting blood pool onto his coat until he felt satisfied. He finally pulled back and let what was his father drop to the floor. He let out a big sigh.

"Alright Grima. Have at it."

Then the world was shrouded by darkness.

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 **A/N: And there is the first chapter of the prequel. We get to learn Robin's backstory as well as what happened in the future. Also note the relationship between Robin and Grima, where Robin has full control and can revert back into his own consciousness freely. That will be important. Please leave a review, and don't worry we will be back to less serious, goofy Robin starting next chapter! Thank you to everyone for reading this first chapter, hopefully chapter 2 will be out by next week! As stated in my other stories, you can find how much of the next chapter on my profile page. Have a great day and I will see you next update!  
**

 **-Austin**


	2. The Verge of History

**Chapter 2: The Verge of History**

" _Mother, why didn't you go with Father and Uncle Robin?"_

" _Your Father was worried about me so he begged until I stayed home. He wanted to make sure somebody could take care of you and your sister"_

" _But Father is going to be alright! He has Uncle Robin to look after him!"_

" _I know dear. He is just being careful, I guess your Uncle Frederick rubbed off on him. I'm sure Robin will keep Chrom safe"_

" _I know Uncle Robin won't fail!"_

" _Lucina you seem to have quite the crush on Robin. And here I thought it was just something that would pass…."_

" _I….I don't have a crush on Robin…I just….know he is a good guy!"_

" _I'm sure that's what it is, dear….I sure hope those two return soon"_

* * *

Darkness consumed his world. He was having the strangest dream, but then everything turned black. He could hear words and footsteps in his surroundings, but he didn't want to move. His body told him to stay in this position and never leave. It was his destiny to stay in this spot until the day he died, for something in his gut told him that nothing good would come if he left this spot. World destruction was the term that kept coming to mind, though he knew not why. A feminine voice entered his consciousness.

"Chrom, we have to do something!"

" _Chrom._ _Why is that name familiar? Is it my own_?" The man thought. His eyes began to flutter open to view two people standing over him, one blonde female and one blue haired male. The blue haired one was familiar to him, though he didn't know why.

"What do you propose we do?" The blue haired man ask. The man whose world was darkness a few seconds ago laughed bitterly to himself.

" _No. Of course it is not my name, it is his. I am nobody, a faceless body among a sea of dreamers"_

"I….I dunno…" The girl answered. The two suddenly snapped their attention to the other man's eyes, which were now fully open and watching them.

"I see you're awake now" Chrom spoke this time.

"Hey there!" The girl exclaimed to him. The man cringed slightly at hearing the shrill voice this soon after waking up.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Give me your hand" Chrom extended his arm down and held it in front of the man that was laying on the ground. The man on the ground laid there for a second, examining the gesture. His mental functions were still returning and he slowly lifted up his own arm from his side and placed his hand in Chrom's. He noticed that his own hand held a strange purple mark like he had never seen before. Before he knew it he was rising off the ground until he stood next to Chrom and the blonde girl. He checked his surroundings to see they were standing in a green clearing with nobody except the two in front of him and a man clad in armor standing a bit behind Chrom.

"Thanks….Chrom…" The man muttered out. His voice was strained, most likely in response to dehydration. He could feel his own cracked lips and parched throat all of a sudden as his body's responses slowly came back. Chrom raised an eyebrow at what the man had said and the armored man stepped forward, drawing a spear in the process.

"You know of me?" Chrom asked. The man could see the look in their eyes, as if his response would determine what would happen to him.

" _Great. I awaken from that darkness only to find myself about to be put into it once more"_ He thought.

"Not really….I heard her say it earlier and it seemed familiar to me. I put two and two together and figured it must be you. Though I couldn't say why it was familiar." The man stuttered out, picking each of his words with extreme caution. It seemed to ease Chrom and the girl, but the armored one made no move to lower his spear.

"Hmm….interesting. Well, you know my name, this is my sister Lissa and the man behind me is Frederick. So what is your name?"

The man pinched his nose, trying his best to recount the answer to the question, but nothing came to him. It seemed memory was another of the things his body was slow to reboot.

" _What happened to me exactly? How did I get into that darkness in the first place?"_ He wondered to himself. He looked back up to find three expectant faces. He allowed his frustration to slide and tried to answer them as best he could.

"I…I don't really know. Truth be told I don't really remember anything right now. I the last thing I can recall is having some strange dream that I also can't remember, then I was in darkness until you two pulled me out of it." The man tried to explain, but he could see the skepticism on both the other men's faces. Only Lissa seemed to believe him entirely.

"Oooo! Amnesia! I've read about that while studying healing, but I never met anybody who actually had it! I wonder if my staff can do anything about it!" Lissa took out said staff from a clip at her waist and held it out so the top was touching the amnesiac's shaggy white hair. A green light enveloped the staff and man and he could feel a strange warmth drifting over him. After a few seconds, Lissa pulled back and looked at him for a response. The amnesiac shrugged.

"It didn't seem to help. I still don't remember anything. It may just take time" He tried to comfort the hurt look on Lissa's face, and it seemed to help a little bit.

"I for one do not believe anything about this bullshit he is telling us. I have studied amnesia as well in my training, and I know it requires some sort of forceful blow to the head in order to sever connections in the brain or some other traumatic event, but I see no evidence of any such occurrence out here. Tell me the truth, stranger" Frederick held the spear out, placing the point under the amnesiac's chin and holding it there. The white haired man slowly raised his hands up over his head in a surrendering pose, unable to think of what to do. It was Chrom that finally saved him.

"Look Frederick, we don't know whether it is true or not. The fact of the matter is he has not tried to harm as at all, yet. I say we take him back to Ylisstol and see if we can find any information on him. Then once we know who he really is, we can decide what to do with him. And if it is amnesia, I'm sure Miriel will have a field day with him." After Chrom spoke, Frederick hesitantly lowered his spear, all the while never breaking eye contact with the amnesiac. With a final "hmph" he turned and walked back to his horse and rummaged through the saddle packs. He finally returned with a small wooden stocks, made just to hold a prisoner's hands rather than their head and hands. Frederick unlocked the device and unhinged it, then placed both of the amnesiac's hands in the slots before closing it and locking it, effectively limiting the man's use of his hands.

"Very well, let's go now" Frederick tied a rope to the lock of the stocks and led the amnesiac to stand next to him while he mounted his horse. Chrom and Lissa fell in next to the prisoner and they began walking along the dirt path in front of them.

They had walked for several hours, snippets of conversation on their lives popping up every now and then but other than that silence consumed the trip. Everybody seemed a little on edge.

"So….where exactly are we?" The amnesiac finally asked. Frederick scoffed at the question but Chrom looked at him with a questioning look.

"Ylisse of course. You really have lost your memory, haven't you?" Robin nodded his head which prompted Chrom to let out a sigh.

"We are a rather large kingdom ruled by our Exalt, Emmeryn. To our north lies Regna Ferox, a snowbound kingdom ruled through force and strength. To our east and south lie the sea, while Plegia borders the west. We have been through many conflicts with Plegia, none of which ended on the best terms. Even now there is tension…..among….us…." Chrom slowed down his speech as he noticed the strange pattern adorning the sleeves of the amnesiac's hooded black robe. Among the arms were six total purple eyes. A symbol that was only attributed to the Grimleal, which was the dominant religion of Plegia. Chrom had long studied the different countries during his childhood and slowly pieced things together. He began to unsheathe his sword.

"Say again, who are you?"

The white haired man began to sweat, seeing the danger he was in. He struggled to come up with an answer, any little memory that his mind would allow. Finally, after much effort, one thought came forward.

"Robin!" He yelled. Chrom paused what he was doing and looked strangely at him, then glanced around the trees in case that was a sign to attack. When nothing happened, he turned back to the amnesiac.

"My….my name is Robin….it finally came back to me. I still can't remember anything else, but I can promise you I do not mean you any harm!" He frantically explained. Chrom waited a moment then sheathed his blade.

"We will find the truth of the matter when we get to Ylisstol. It helps that you can remember your name." Silence again consumed them until they caught the scent of smoke coming downwind.

"Frederick! Do you smell that?" Chrom asked.

"Yes, milord. It seems to be coming from Southtown. Robin, or whatever your true identity is, stay here while we assess the situation. We are the Shepherds, it is our duty to protect the people of Ylisse" Frederick pushed his horse forward after taking a moment to tie the rope attached to Robin's stocks to a nearby tree, Chrom and Lissa following close behind. Robin was left all to himself in the middle of the woods.

" _Damn! What am I supposed to do here? If I can't remember anything they are going to kill me! Who am I, anyways!? Auugghh! I know for sure I can't stay here for long!"_

Robin looked at the tree he was tied to. It was rather slim, but too big to pull down by himself. Frederick had used the height his horse gave him to tie the knot high above the ground where Robin could not reach to untie it. Seeing no other option, he ran at the tree and brought the edge of the stocks against it with all his might, hoping one of the two pieces of wood would break. Nothing happened. He continued pounding the stocks against the tree, grunting and growing exhausted. He could hear yelling coming from the direction his captors had gone. After a few more minutes of hitting the pieces of wood together, he turned the stocks to their side and started banging the lock against the tree. This time the old rusted metal proved weak and snapped after a few blows. Robin quickly pulled his hands out of the stocks and rubbed his wrists, finally free.

" _All right, let's see what I have been carrying"_ He thought as he rummaged through the many pockets and folds of his coat. He was surprised when he pulled out an old yellow book and a bronze sword. He looked curiously at the yellow book which read _Thunder_ on the cover, but he did not know what it was. He put it back in his pocket and held the bronze sword out in front of him. There were obvious signs of use on the blade, though it was still razor sharp.

" _Huh. Guess I fight?"_

Robin but the blade and its sheath at his hip and turned to look at the road. His options were to move away from the others and hope they didn't try to track him down or go and help them and hope they accepted that as proof that he meant them no harm. He weighed his options for a few moments, then ultimately decided to go help them.

He came upon a burning village with bandits standing across the way holding a few villagers hostage and the his captors stood a few hundred feet in front of him with the rest of the villagers pushing past them to safety. Robin unsheathed his sword and began walking down to join the other three. As he moved, he could make out a few words of one of the bandits.

"I am Garrick! Legend among thieves! Lay down your weapons and I may spare both your lives and theirs!" He yelled, pointing his blade at the villagers cowering behind him. Chrom grit his teeth in anger.

"Damn! We were too late!"

"I believe I can help" Robin said as he strode up next to them. All three of his captors took a step back in surprise and shared a look of unease at how Robin was now here.

"R-Robin!? Why are you here! What happened to your stocks?" Lissa asked while hiding behind Chrom. Robin grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"I, uh, figured you could use some help. I found a blade on my person and I think I can fight." Frederick looked suspiciously at the amnesiac, more than likely unhappy that he failed to remove the weapon from him earlier.

"You _think_ you can fight?" the knight asked. Robin sheepishly grinned.

"Well, as I said I don't really remember anything. I found this blade which has a few dents and scratches on it, along with a yellow book." He said while pulling the strange book out of his pocket. Lissa and Chrom's eyes wided.

"You know magic?" They both asked. Robin cocked his head at their question, wondering how the book had anything to do with magic.

"Magic? What do you mean?"

"That book is called a tome, a thunder tome by the looks of it. Soldiers that have trained in the magical arts are able to summon a special energy through their body and use the book as a catalyst for magical attacks." Frederick explained matter-of-factly. Robin shrugged and put the book back in his pocket.

"I guess I must know magic then. But I would rather wait until after this battle to figure it out for sure."

Robin's eyes scanned the battlefield, observing the enemies in front of them. Names and numbers began popping into his head, none of which he had remembered before. He pinched the bridge of his nose and grimaced. Chrom, noticing Robin's state, turned to the man.

"Everything alright with you?"

"It's….I don't know….I can see…things….when I look at the enemy….numbers, names, formations, strategies, everything keeps popping into my head all at once. It must have been something I used to know or be proficient with. The one word above the rest that continues to pop into my mind is…..tactician." Chrom's eyes widened at this.

"Tactician huh? The Shepherds are in need of one, actually. Tell me more about what you are seeing."

Robin raised his eyes once again to the field.

"Two barbarians, axe wielders, straight ahead and to our right. Weak to swords. Myrmidon straight ahead, sword wielder, weak to spears. Mage up on the northeast of this marketplace, uses ranged attacks, need to get close to him to finish him otherwise he will keep harming us. The northern bridge holds the enemy commander and his guards; two myrmidons and two barbarians." He paused for a few moments as his brain did calculations.

"Best strategy is for Lissa to ride on the back of Frederick's horse so she is protected and can get to whoever needs healing quickly. Frederick will take down the myrmidon in front of us using the reach of his spear then quickly ride down the mage so we don't have to worry about him. Chrom will take down the barbarian in front of us and I will take the one to our right, then regroup afterwards. We will meet Frederick at the foot of the bridge, then form a spearhead formation with Frederick at the lead, Chrom and I to the sides. We will take out the myrmidons there while you take down Garrick directly so we can stop possible civilian casualties. From there we can finish off the rest. We have to work fast, does everyone understand the plan?" Robin was met with nods.

"Very well, let's go!"

Lissa hopped onto the back of Frederick's horse and the two galloped at the myrmidon. The poor dastard didn't have a chance to roll out of the way before Frederick's lighting speed had pushed his spear deep into the brigand's chest. Frederick shook the man off the weapon and switched to a throwing grip, launching the silver spear across the battle field and impaling the mage before he rode off to collect his spear at the bridge. Chrom meanwhile ran forward, using the length of his sword to catch the axe where its blades met the handle. He parried and flung the axe out of the barbarian's hand then pressed his sword into the man's stomach, pulling out his entrails as he dislodged the blade. Robin was off fighting the other barbarian, but fighting was coming slowly to him. He was able to block each swing of the axe, but had not felt comfortable in any of the openings he had to attack. The barbarian switched to a double handed grip and went for a powerful over the head swing. Robin stepped inside so the blow went past him, then wrapped an arm around the man's chest to keep him from moving. Holding his breath, he stuck the sword point first into the base of the man's neck, severing the brain stem. The man's limp body fell to the floor. Robin's stomach churned as he realized that may have been the first man he killed. He swayed and fell to the ground on his knees and elbows, whatever food he had in his stomach coming up onto the floor below him. He felt a hand on his back and heard Chrom's voice.

"Hey, the battle field is no time for this. You said yourself you could fight, so I highly doubt this is your first kill. These men have been attacking the village, so please, do not feel your grief until after everyone is safe." With that, he helped Robin onto his feet and pushed the man onward to the foot of the bridge. Frederick was already in the spearhead position and Chrom took his place to the right. Robin finally regained his composure then gave a nod to the rest of his team.

"Charge!" The command came out as little more than a squeak from Robin, but they all understood. The all dashed forward at the group across the bridge. Robin's vision began to darken and he felt a strange adrenaline surging through him. He let instinct takeover and blanked out during the fight.

When he came to, he was sitting with Chrom back on their original side of the bridge, corpses of the brigands piled up, although two of them were heavily mutilated. Robin rubbed his head, offhandedly noticing that he was yet to be put back in the stocks.

"What…what happened?" He asked. Frederick answered without looking at him.

"It seemed you remembered how to fight. You leapt into the air and used the momentum to slice through the swordsman, then turned and began hacking away at the axeman. It seems whatever was holding you back before quickly left"

Robin looked back at the two mutilated corpses and felt bile returning to the back of his throat.

" _I-I did that?"_

Chrom walked up and patted him on the back.

"Come now, we have saved this village and you have proven to me that you are no enemy of Ylisse. You fought bravely out there, and I know we could use somebody as skilled in swords, tactics and possibly magic as you are. Join us Shepherds, and you will be free from any imprisonment you might have had coming."

Robin thought it over.

"You were planning on putting me in jail? Well, given the options, I would say I will join you. Whenever you mention the Shepherds, something in my memory is jostled, as if that were important to me before I lost my memory. Maybe I meant to join you this whole time?" He wondered aloud. Chrom grinned and opened his mouth to speak, but was soon interrupted by Frederick.

"Milord. I am afraid to say these men bear the markings of Plegia. It seems they were sent here by Gangrel, at the worst."

"Plegia again? This must be a real problem country" Robin surmised to himself, which Chrom responded with a nod.

"Yes, we are always at a state of almost-war with them. They continue to provoke us, but our Exalt is one of great peace and will not allow such small things allow Plegia to get what they want. In any case, we must hurry and return to Ylisstol to give Emmeryn the news. The villagers shouldn't suffer because of us."

"But Chroooom! We were just going to have our victory feast!" Lissa complained loudly from Frederick's horse.

"Milady, it will have to wait until we return to the capitol. This is an urgent matter." Frederick told her, though Lissa only responded with a pout. Chrom helped Robin off the ground and began walking out of the village.

"Let's hurry then. C'mon, Robin. I am sure Emmeryn will want to meet you soon."

The rest of the Shepherds went on ahead, leaving the robed men to follow slowly behind, thinking over the events of the day.

" _So….I started the day being taken in as a prisoner with no memory….then I fought with them and started piecing together things about me, and now I am one of them and on my way to meet some kind of royalty. What a strange day…."_ He quickened his pace as a smile spread itself on his face, thinking of the path the day had gone. The smile slowly disappeared as the one true question that would continue to plague him for many years surfaced.

" _But….who am I? Am I a killer on the loose? Am I a soldier far from his post? Or something worse? I don't know if I am wanting to find the answer to reassure myself that I am a good person….or if I am afraid to know the truth of being what Frederick fears….."_

* * *

 **A/N: And there concludes the first true chapter of The Beginning of Life! Next chapter will include some shenanigans among the four, along with the first appearance of Lucina! It will be fun as our path along Robin's journey continues! Answering reviews time!**

 **Antex- Yes! GrimaRobin's ability will have a pretty big part in the later chapters of this, the final chapter of Future Past, and will be the main topic of the coming supplementary story to this story (more about that on my profile page). Don't worry, goofy Robin will come soon, but he has to sort out his shit first! I know I said he would be coming this week, but I realized that there is some more important stuff going on that would probably be messing with his head and taking his focus away from joking around.  
**

 **BKS-I hope I can add enough new stuff too, I plan to stray from the in game dialogue, both in supports and in the real game. I will add in stuff every now and then to keep it new as well, that way it isn't just like reading all of the other retellings!**

 **Gunlord- Thanks! Hopefully this story will be even better than Return to Life.**

 **What will happen when Robin meets "Marth"? It has already been hinted at in a chapter of TRtL, and will be quite exciting indeed! Find out next week!**

 **-Austin**


	3. Unwelcome Change

**Chapter 3: Unwelcome Change  
**

" _Uncle Robin! You're back!"_

"… _.Yes, I am…"_

" _What's wrong Uncle? Where is Father?"_

"… _..Listen Lucina….you remember the blade your Father gave to me many years ago?"_

" _Of course! Your magical blade you use to protect us!"_

" _Yes…..I want you to take it."_

" _B-but that's your sword!"_

" _And it has protected me well. But now this rapier will protect you. I must go, take this and use it to protect all those dearest to you"_

" _Wait! Uncle Robin! Don't go!"_

* * *

The small group of Shepherds were stretched out under the stars, surrounding a campfire. A comfortable silence had taken over them while their dinner cooked, each having their own thoughts. Chrom thought of getting home to his sister, Lissa thought of ways to prank their newest member, Frederick kept an eye on their former prisoner, still cautious of him but not voicing it anymore. The final member of the group felt a cold wind blowing in his heart. He wrapped his robe tighter around himself, trying to escape the thoughts in his head.

" _I butchered those people….as if it were nothing….who am I? Where did I come from?"_

Robin's mind would continue to be filled with these thoughts for many years, never getting his answer until their final battle. For now, all he knew was that he had struggled with fighting until he stopped thinking and then his body acted on its own, fighting masterfully and effortlessly. He could only explain it as being instinct, but the thought that his instinct was to be a heartless killer bothered him to no end. In the end, he ultimately decided to never rely on his instincts again. He would learn how to fight from this group of Shepherds and only use enough force to meet the task at hand, rather than be a butcher. If he had to kill to protect his friends, he knew he would have no other choice, though if he could he would avoid shedding any blood. Robin wrote this creed into his heart as he stared off into the night sky, determined to change who he was.

"Chroooom why did we have to skip out on that meal! Now we are stuck out here with this weird meat laying on the hard ground in the middle of the forest!"

Robin had already learned in his day with the Shepherds that Lissa would be the one to break silences.

"Please, Milady, we must return to the Ylisstol immediately to deliver news of Plegia and our…..companion here. We cannot afford to spend a night in town, and bear meat is hardly strange"

Robin had also learned that Frederick was the one to handle Lissa's outburst, while Chrom was much more comfortable ignoring his sister's outcries. He couldn't help but wonder about their familial interactions. But this thought process brought him to questions on his own family, which brought him back to the gut-wrenching thoughts about who he actually was.

"I've never even see you eat bear meat! Stop lying to me!"

Yup, Lissa was definitely the one to break silences.

Eventually the meat was finally finished cooking, all the while the knight and cleric bickered back and forth about the quality of their provisions and other nonsense that Robin chose to ignore, deciding that his time was better spent trying to get some sleep after their battle. He was awoken by the smell of cooked meat and a strange silence in place of the arguing he last remembered.

"Ah, is the meat done?" He asked sleepily. Chrom looked up from cutting off pieces of the large roast.

"Yes, it will be good to eat and regain some strength. Hopefully we will not run into anymore conflict on our way to Ylisstol, but one must always be prepared. Here, take some of this" Chrom said as he handed Robin a few slices of bear meat. Robin scarfed them down while Chrom ate his with more mannerisms. The tactician didn't even notice that Lissa and Frederick were refraining from eating as he cut more and more meat off of the bear roast with his recently cleaned bronze sword. As he reached for his fourth serving, he looked up to see the other three staring at him. He froze for a second before becoming conscious of the blood and juice that were dripping from his fingers and chin. He felt his face turn red in embarrassment and quickly used the tail of his coat to clean himself up.

"Uhh…. Sorry about that….guess I was hungrier than I thought" he grinned sheepishly and chose to eat at a slower peace. Chrom simply shook his head and smiled softly.

"Don't worry, who knows how long you were unconscious in that field or when the last time you ate was. You deserve a good meal. Besides, Frederick and Lissa aren't going to touch it and we need to finish the meat, lest we attract more bears or wolves to the campsite. That surely would be the worst" Chrom said, unknowingly dooming the four Shepherds to an awful fate by the laws of challenging the world and its definition of "worst".

"It isn't my fault that you can't hunt like a normal person! Who even chooses to fight a bear!? Aren't you supposed to avoid them, not wait in a tree and jump on the back of the first one to cross your path?" Lissa cried out at her brother, who simply smiled smugly.

"You only avoid that which you can't kill. I won't fall to some simple bear"

Lissa pouted as she stared into the remaining embers of the fire. Frederick cleared his throat shortly after her outburst.

"I must agree with the lady, it is far too dangerous to attack bears on your own. Next time, please allow me to do the hunting. I wouldn't want you to trip while dueling the bear and injure yourself."

Robin also found Frederick was overly cautious to the point of it being extremely annoying and unrealistic at times. He had learned a lot about his three comrades in the short hours they had spent together, a skill he figured he must have picked up prior to losing his memory.

The campfire soon burned out, signaling it was time for bed. They didn't dare to relight it, lest they attract bandits to their location whilst they slept. Frederick insisted he keep watch while the others slept, but Chrom eventually convinced him that they would be fine and he could better serve their group by becoming well rested. They all said their goodnights and drifted off to sleep in the cool nighttime air.

* * *

Robin stirred in his sleep as he felt warmth surrounding his being, which set off an alarm in his mind as it last recalled sleeping in cold air. Light threatened to creep through his shut eyelids, though not the light of the sun. These alarms blared in the tactician's mind, but sleep won overall. It was the severe earthquake that finally caused him to slowly open his eyes.

" _Huh? What is it Chrom….why did Frederick light everything on fire….no, it's fine…I'll just go back to sleep…"_ His thoughts were unclear and scattered as his consciousness slowly came back.

" _Wait….fire?"_

Robin shot up to a seated position, taking in the sight around him. The trees were all on fire and meteors shot from the sky, along with the very earth in front of him splitting in half. Robin frantically strapped his sword to his waist and looked around for his companions, but there was nobody around.

"Damn! Where is everybody!? What the hell is happening?" Robin shouted to the open air. He quickly stood and rushed into the tree line, heading towards where he could barely make out the sounds of clashing steel. He arrived in a clearing a few minutes later, seeing Chrom, Lissa and Frederick fighting against what he assumed were more bandits. But there was something strange about said bandits. They had a sickly black skin, red eyes, emitted a foul smoke from their orifices, and instead of dying when stabbed, they disappeared into a black mist. Robin rubbed his eyes, desperate to figure out what was happening before him.

"Chrom! What is going on here!?" He yelled from as he approached the blue haired man.

"I'm not sure. I was out with Lissa when something opened up in the sky and these creatures started pouring out. There was a masked man with them too, but he disappeared shortly after saving Lissa. To be truthful, I have no more idea than you as to what is happening" Chrom then turned back towards the field, where more of the dark creatures were gathering, looking for the fight. Robin looked around to see many of the other beings running into the trees, escaping from the area, likely looking to wreak havoc elsewhere. Robin considered going after them, but ultimately decided they were far too outnumbered, no matter how much just letting them leave would come back to bite them in the ass. Instead, he turned to all of the ones in front of him. His brain quickly switched into the various statistics and bits of knowledge that had flowed through it in Southtown.

"Hmm….they are very spread out here. If we are cautious, we should be able to take out each one individually without the others interfering….all we have to worry about is that archer. Frederick! You make a straight path along that way to take out the swordsman and the archer. Chrom, you take the axeman to our south while I take the one to the west. Lissa, hang back here and only come if we need to be healed. I didn't see any of them on my way here, so you should be safe from where you are. Go quickly! We will regroup to take out the rest once these four are down!" Robin removed his sword from its sheath and ran forward, charging at the creature holding an axe in front of him. He could feel his instincts urging him on from inside, but he refused to let them take over. He was the commander of his body, not whatever evil took over him before. He brought his sword up in an arching swing, using the momentum to crash down on the enemy's axe. However, the creature didn't seem bothered by the swing and sent a kick straight into Robin's rib cage. The tactician was sent flying back a few feet then rolled on the ground before coming to a stop. He tried to move but felt an extreme burning sensation coming from his abdomen. He turned his head enough to see the axeman slowly approaching him.

" _Damn….I'm weak….but I can't just use that awful power I did before…"_ Robin surmised in his head. He slowly brought his arms up beneath his chest and pushed himself up onto his knees. He glanced to see the creature had quickened his pace and was now leaping, axe raised high. Robin brought his sword up quickly, one hand holding the handle and the other pressed against the flat of the blade. The axe caught onto the sword and the creature hooked the curved blade onto Robin's then wrenched it from his hands. Robin was forced onto his back from the force then quickly pushed himself away with his legs as the axeman started to close the distance between them, ready for the killing blow. Robin glanced around, only to see Frederick busy with the archer and Chrom having gone ahead to deal with the rest of the creatures to the South. This left only Lissa, who had no weapon. Robin was simply doomed. He felt his instincts urging him on, wanting him to fight.

" _ **Let me take control**_ "

Robin frantically looked around for the source of the voice, but found none around him, and it certainly wasn't the axeman that had spoken.

"Who was that!?" Robin yelled, desperation growing as he saw his death approaching.

" _ **Trust in your instincts, let me show you my power once again"**_

Robin grabbed his head and fought back the surging force he felt pulsating in his veins. He didn't even notice the creature was upon him and was raising his axe again. When Robin finally regained control of his body completely, he looked up and saw the axe already descending, giving him no time to dodge. Robin closed his eyes and accepted his fate. He waited for death to take him. Moments passed, but death never came. He looked up to see the creature staggering back, an arrow between its eyes. Robin looked around in surprise before seeing an archer with silvery blue hair across the battlefield wearing a confident grin.

"You are welcome, dear comrade! You should feel honored to have been saved by the noble archest of archers, Virion! I am the greatest in the land, and the ladies cannot keep themselves away from me! Where there is a damsel in distress or a comrade needing help, expect the great Virion to come-" The archer was dragging on in his speech before a boot to his back interrupted him. An armored woman with short red hair on horseback emerged from behind Virion, having just knocked him to the ground.

"Shut up, would you!? Captain Chrom, I have come to help after I saw all of that commotion. This man followed me out here and won't leave me alone, but it seems he might be worth a damn." The woman then turned her attention away from Chrom, who was busy finishing off the last of the creatures, to the tactician laying on the ground.

"Who is snow white?" She asked. Chrom brought his blade around quicker than the eye could follow to knock out who Robin assumed was the leader, then turned around and looked over at his fallen comrade.

"That's Robin, our new tactician. He seems to be lacking in combat skills all of a sudden, maybe we will have to get him in Frederick's training program" Chrom answered. He, the woman, and Lissa all began to snicker after he said the last part, leaving Robin confused.

"Training program? Why are you all laughing at that?" He asked. The woman rode over to him and leaned down to offer him a hand up. He took it and was brought to his feet, where he began dusting himself off.

"The name is Sully. And we are laughing at the hell you are about to be going through. Frederick doesn't exactly take it easy on shit fighters, like you seem to be" The woman, now revealed to be named Sully, let out a laugh and rode off to meet with Chrom and the others. Robin looked on with bewilderment, before walking to join them. He could feel that….presence that was speaking to him growing angry at her comments on his fighting, but he did his best to suppress whatever instincts were growling inside of him.

" _It seems it will take a lot to control this….I need to practice more. It seems my instincts and whatever that voice was start to take over when my life starts being in danger. I need to do my best to never let that happen again"_ Robin thought in his head, deciding on the course of action. When he reached the others, he looked over to the knight that had originally taken him prisoner.

"Frederick. I want to get stronger. Please, let me train under you"

The rest of their group, minus Virion, and Frederick, dropped their jaws at the request.

"T-train under Frederick!? Are you mad? Didn't you just hear Sully!? That's suicide Robin!" Lissa yelled at the tactician. Frederick stared at the tactician for a few seconds, keeping the scowl he always held on his face. Finally, he glanced away and started urging his horse forward, speaking as he left.

"Fine, but only after we clear up who you are in Ylisstol. The situation has grown even more dire, we must return as fast as possible."

Robin smirked at this, happy to be getting some kind of training. He began to follow after Frederick, the rest of the group following him with Virion now trying to speak to Lissa and everyone else still struck in confusion about somebody willingly training with the knight. A figure stepped in front of their group and brought them all to a halt. Chrom was the first to step forward.

"There you are. Thank you for all your help, you saved my sister and we owe you a great deal. May I ask your name?"

The figure in front of them appeared to be a young man dressed in blue, with a blue cape similar to Chrom's. More importantly, he was wearing a blue mask that covered the upper half of his face. Robin looked over the man multiple times, noting various features. The man had a curious figure for a teenage boy, one could almost say a womanly figure. His hair also seemed different than what Robin knew of men having. Robin also noted the sword he carried was identical to Chrom's, though at this point he didn't know about the rarity of Falchion, so he thought little of it. What really struck the tactician was the strange quickening of pulse and heating up of his body he was feeling as he stared at the man.

" _This is…strange….why am I feeling like this?"_ He wondered to himself. In his thoughts, he missed out on most of the conversation, only catching the last bit of it.

"But you still have yet to tell us your name, please, just grant that request" Chrom seemed to be begging for the answer. The other man turned and started to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and answered without turning around.

"You may call me Marth"

And then the man vanished into the trees with blinding speed. The group of Shepherds, now with two new additions in Robin and Virion, stood in silence as they thought over the man named Marth. After a few moments, Frederick urged the group onward, leaving each to their individual thoughts on the night's events.

* * *

The group arrived at the capital's giant walls in the middle of the afternoon, after the sun had already begun its descent in the sky. The gates were opened to them as their group of six entered the city. Robin looked around, marveling at the sheer size of the city. The village they had saved was nothing more than a speck compared to the sprawling city. It must have been capable of holding hundreds of thousands of people. Buildings were packed together and vendors were filling every available spot on the street, but to him it seemed the people of the city were perfectly happy with how the city was. Robin's spirits naturally began to rise with the energy of Ylisstol. Their group marched along until they found their way to the main road, which split the city in half and stretched across in width about fifty meters. At the south end of the road lay the largest gate of the city, simply called the main gate. The Shepherds had entered via the west gate, a much smaller entrance for use by groups such as themselves. The main gate was for use of military and large amounts of immigrants entering the city. In the direct center of the road, and thus entire city, lay a huge square where vendors set up in its perimeter, a small stage being in the center of it. At the north end of the road was a large castle, where Robin assumed the royal family lived. Towards that end of the road, a crowd had gathered and cheers could be heard from their position. Chrom started walking towards the group, leaving behind a confused Robin.

"It must be Emmeryn" Chrom said as he walked. Robin quickly caught up with him and walked in stride with him.

"You said that was your Exalt, correct?"

"Yes. She has been a symbol of peace to the people of Ylisse. She brought an end to the wars that had plagued the continent and has given all the citizens great prosperity. We have been prodded by Plegia at various times to start another war, as you saw with the bandits, but she refuses to entertain that idea and answers with diplomacy each time. We have not seen this kind of peace since the original defeat of the Fell Dragon in the days of old"

Robin felt a strange sensation stir within him at the mention of this "Fell Dragon", but chose to think nothing of it.

"Ah, she must be something special then?"

"Yup! And she is the best sister you could ask for!" Lissa called out from behind them. Robin took a few moments to process what she just said, then stopped walking and stiffened up.

"S-sister!? So…that would make you two…."

"Royalty, yes. They are technically Prince Chrom and Princess Lissa" Sully answered his unasked question for him. Robin stammered for a few seconds before dropping into a nervous bow.

"I-I'm sorry your graces! I had no idea I was in such presences!" Robin said nervously. He peaked up when he heard soft laughter. Chrom seemed to be holding a displeased face, though a grin was threatening to emerge from his lips, while everybody else was laughing. Except Frederick. Frederick seemed to not understand what fun was.

"Please, I hate titles. Nobody calls me anything like that, so I suggest you do the same."

Robin gulped, while Lissa ran over and wrapped an arm around his neck, a wicked smile on her face.

"Although, if you really insist in serving royalty, I can think of a few chores you can do for me" Lissa laughed again after seeing Robin blushing, unsure of what to say. Chrom eventually helped him out.

"Give him a break Lissa, I'm sure he will get used to your teasing eventually. Come on, let's go see Emm."

With that, the group moved towards the crowd, shoving their way through.

They emerged to see the blonde Exalt wearing a green robe, a soft smile accenting her featured as she waved to the crowd. Some might describe her as having a great beauty to her, though Robin saw it as a feature of being royal, not as a sense of attraction. When the ruler finally turned towards their group, her smile grew and she walked towards them.

"Welcome home, brother and sister" She spoke as one would expect a ruler, though there was also a tender loving behind her words.

"Hey Emm. We need to talk to you about a few things. Let's head back to the castle" Chrom answered her. The Exalt nodded and started leading their group back to the castle entrance, leaving the crowd behind. Robin hesitated but ultimately followed, feeling uneasy about being in the presence of royalty. They finally stopped after walking through a few rooms of the castle in a large hallway, at the end of which sat a throne.

"So what is it you wish to speak about? And who are these two men with you?" Emmeryn had dropped her formal way of speaking that she had earlier, now adopting a soft voice that Robin assumed was her natural way of speaking. She had motioned to himself and Virion, so Robin anxiously awaited to hear what Chrom had to say. Unfortunately, it was Frederick who answered first.

"The archer is Virion, he had been following Sully before joining us in battle. He expressed interest in joining the Shepherds on the march here, so he will be joining our ranks. The other one calls himself Robin. We found him in a field, where he claimed to have lost his memory, yet knew the Prince's name. He also is wearing a Plegian robe. I am not sure what to think of him as of yet."

Robin gulped as the Exalt stepped forward and looked over him curiously. She spoke without taking her eyes off of him.

"And you saw fit to bring him into the castle, even having such doubts?"

"He helped us multiple times in battle. He may not be the best fighter, but he is a tactician. Even if his plans end up with him almost being killed, I think he will be an asset to the Shepherds" Chrom finally spoke up. Robin didn't dare answer his joke about him almost being killed, at least not yet. Emmeryn seemed to think for a few moments.

"Very well. If Chrom trusts him, then I trust him as well. I hope he helps us well."

Robin let out a big sigh, then looked over to see how Frederick reacted. Surprisingly, the knight didn't seem to show any sign of protesting the Exalt's decision. Robin figured the knight must be extremely dedicated to the royal family, with whatever they say being the law.

"Very well, my grace. I will get the paperwork ready for him and Virion to be officially documented as Ylissean citizens."

Robin finally allowed a smirk that he had been fighting back.

"Thank you, milady. It will be good to have somebody whose strategy isn't just swinging their sword until the enemy falls" He shot a glance at Chrom, who caught on to the retort and grinned back. Before the battle of quips could progress, a woman appeared before them.

"We received your preliminary reports, Captain Chrom. We will be holding a meeting and wish for you to come with us, so we may get a full debriefing"

Chrom glared at Robin for another second before turning to the woman.

"Thanks Phila, let's get the meeting going. Frederick will be coming along to help with the details. Lissa, please take everyone else to the barracks so Robin and Virion can be fully introduced" Chrom said before he and Frederick followed the woman out of the hall.

"Alright! Let's go everyone! It's time to party!" Lissa exclaimed, then ran out of the room. Virion and Robin shared a glance before following where she had gone, Sully walking behind them.

Robin mused to himself as he walked behind the blonde cleric, who was bursting in excitement.

" _Huh…what a strange few days. I start off as an amnesiac who became a prisoner, and now here I am in the presence of royalty. And to top it off, there is some strange voice talking to me….what exactly is happening here? And why did I feel strange around Marth?"_

Robin shrugged his shoulders, deciding there would be a better time to figure these things out. Besides, they had just arrived at a large cabin towards the outskirts of Ylisstol. Robin looked at the door, figuring it must be the barracks that held the other Shepherds, which he had figured out were actually an elite military group. He took a deep breath and entered through the door.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey there! I finally got an update out, but unfortunately there will only be one this week! You will have to wait another week before getting to meet the rest of the Shepherds. However, a lot happened this chapter. Robin met Marth, he found some strange presence in him, and he finally started becoming the snarky man he is in** _ **The Return to Life**_ **! If anybody is confused about what exactly is happening with that second voice, please read the review answer to Antex below! Otherwise, it won't really be explained until much later on! Thank you for all of the support so far, let's answer some reviews!**

 **ProxyAcc-Yes, and as seen in Future Past 3, the uncle aspect plays a big part in all those interactions, but some stuff happens that will be explained a bit later on once the future children start popping up. And don't worry, there is going to be a lot more common sense in this story than there was in the game, so things like the coat won't be overlooked!**

 **Antex- Alright, get ready for a really complex explanation on what is happening with Robin. It helps that you mentioned that you watch Bleach, because it will make explaining a bit easier. So as I mentioned in the prologue, Robin grew up as a fierce fighter that fought without too much concern for his opponent, and overall was an angry person (a fact he won't find out about until the end of the story). Now, although he lost his memory, the muscle memory and instincts he developed during this time as a warrior stayed within him. As you know, at the end of the game it is revealed that the Grima-Robin tried to fuse with the current Robin, which is what caused the amnesia Robin has. In this story, some of Grima-Robin's dark power entered current Robin's power and fused with whatever strength it could: Robin's instinctual fighting. Part of Grima was able to come to life with the help of Robin's fell blood, and this eventually became like another part of Robin. To sum up, it became like Ichigo and his hollow, where the two can interact, one being caring and the other wanting blood. It is a struggle between what Robin wants to be and the hatred he had in his past. We don't see any of this in the Return to Life because he eventually learns to control it, and the destruction of Grima completely eradicated the hatred he had and the voice that had attached itself to his instincts. I hope that kind of makes sense. The voice Robin is hearing is part of Grima that attached itself to him when Grima-Robin attempted the fusion. If you or anybody else is confused about any of this, feel free to PM me and I will try to explain a bit better. There will be a big explanation towards the end of this story when Robin meets his future self, but that is far away.**

 **Jammy-I am sorry to hear that, I hope you start feeling better soon!**

 **Until next time!**

 **-Austin**


	4. Shepherds

**Chapter 4: Shepherds**

" _Mother…..why do you have Father's sword…?"_

" _Lucina…..your Father won't…be coming home…"_

" _What? Mother, why are you crying? Why isn't Father coming home?"_

"… _."_

" _Mother! No! Father can't….he can't….who did it!?"_

" _I…Lucina…."_

" _Please Mother, you must tell me!"_

" _Your Father was….betrayed….by his best friend…"_

" _His best friend? But who could that…..oh gods no…."_

" _Lucina! Wait!"_

" _No…it can't be! I won't believe he did that! Uncle Robin wouldn't do that!"_

* * *

Robin stretched himself out before sitting in a soft chair in the opening room of the Shepherd's barracks. Lissa had brought him here to be introduced to everybody and he could feel the pit of nervousness widening in his stomach. He took a look around the simple room. Everything was wooden with no paint anywhere. There were some bookshelves but very few books. Robin made a note that if he were to live here, he would need to fill those bookshelves when he got a chance. Lissa had gone further into the barracks and told him to wait where he was. He could hear girlish squealing and chatter coming from further in, but he didn't know what the cause once. After a few moments, Lissa reentered the room, followed by a girl with blonde curly hair, a man not wearing a shirt and a girl with long brown hair. They both eyed the tactician for a few moments before the shirtless man finally spoke up.

"Who's the newbie?"

"This is Robin, our new tactician! We found him in a field, but he can use tomes and swords!" Lissa explained very excitedly. The blonde girl stared at Lissa incredulously.

"And you just took in this stranger, no less a commoner, without any question to his character? How Frederick allowed this I will never know!" She spoke in a strangely eloquent manner, but the message still caused Robin to furrow his brow.

"Maribelle stop that! We need to welcome Robin here. Please don't mind her, she is actually very friendly, she just doesn't like new people very much" The brunette explained with a smile. Maribelle gave a "humph" and left the room. Robin quickly noted this brown haired girl would be the one to go to for advice. Before they could say another word, Chrom and Frederick stepped through the entrance of the barracks.

"Captain! Welcome back, I thought-I mean we thought you-" The brunette began before suddenly stumbling on nothing and falling, though Chrom stepped forward to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Sumia! Are you alright? Did the boots lock up again?" Chrom asked with quite a bit of concern. Sumia blushed heavily and stood up, stiffening her back significantly.

"Y-yes captian!" She exclaimed. Robin couldn't help but smile and shake his head at the beginnings of a budding romance that even he could recognize. He made another note in his head that he should speak to Sumia at the next opportunity. Chrom cleared his throat, bringing everybody's attention to himself.

"We will be marching north in the morning to Regna Ferox. We need to unite their strength with Ylisse in order to face what appeared last night. We have named the creatures "Risen", and our number one priority has become exterminating all of those that escaped into the world. We know little of them other than they have inhuman strength and ability and seem to not feel any pain. Flesh wounds will not stop them, a mortal blow must be inflicted to slow them down at all. This mission is completely voluntary, so whoever wishes to come may let me know before the morning."

As soon as Chrom finished, cheers went around the room as each person volunteered one by one. Robin jumped away from where he was sitting when the suit of armor next to him suddenly spoke up.

"Wh-what was that?" Robin said as he tried to catch his breath. The suit of armor turned to reveal a man that Robin had not noticed enter the room. He seemed to be rather upset by Robin's reaction, given the big sigh he gave.

"I'm Kellam, I have been standing here since you came in. Don't worry about it, nobody ever notices me anyways"

Robin wasn't sure how to respond to the man other than give an awkward smile and rub his head.

"Captain….I'm not sure if I am ready to fight quite yet, I am still training with the spears….but I wish to watch everyone in action, so I may see what it is like on the battlefield in person! Please allow me to come along!" Sumia said with her hands clasped over her heart, her face holding a very adamant expression. Chrom looked at her with a smile for a second.

"We would be glad to have you, Sumia. Just please stay safe. If you wish to stay back you can, but you could also stay at my side to see the combat up close"

Robin shook his head as he saw Sumia beginning to blush deeply while Chrom seemed oblivious to the weight of his words to the girl. Chrom turned back to the door and began leaving, Robin assumed for the castle.

"Very well, everyone that is coming be ready to march in the morning. Until then, rest well"

Chrom, Lissa and Frederick exited and the remaining Shepherds began to return to their rooms with a new air of excitement due to their mission. They all seemed to ignore Robin, who simply slumped back in his seat, thinking over the day's events. Virion had left their group before the Shepherds had come out to meet them, saying he had to go meet the local women in his round-about way of speaking. Robin wasn't sure if he had a room in the barracks and he still did not feel like he fit in, so he settled on resting in the chair rather the bothering anybody. He pulled his hood up over his eyes to shield the sunlight creeping in from the setting sun. He shut his eyes and began drifting off to sleep, simultaneously pushing away the nightmares that were at the edge of his mind ever since he heard that voice from within him.

* * *

Robin was awoken by a soft voice and a gentle shake of his shoulder. His eyes slowly opened, his mind taking a while to start up. He had not slept well the night before, so his body had gone into a deep slumber while in the chair. His eyes adjusted to the small amount of light in the room, coming from a single candle on the table in front of him. He looked at the person who had woken him up, taking a few moments to put a name to the face.

"Oh…hey Sumia" He finally said. The brunette smiled and took a seat across from him, a book in hand.

"I'm sorry to wake you….it's just there is never anybody here when I read and I wanted to learn more about you" She said with a smile. Robin's eyes focused on the book as he tried to remember if it had been on the barren shelves when he walked in. Sumia must have caught on to the glance because she spoke up again.

"Ah, this book is from my own collection. I have a bookshelf in my room where I have many books. It keeps them safe from Vaike when they aren't in here. Most of the books on these shelves were destroyed by his impromptu axe swinging sessions" She said with a sigh. Robin nodded his head slowly, seeing the sadness this caused the girl. He decided to move the subject away from the destruction of books.

"So…you have your own stash of books? I was actually planning on seeing if there were any in town"

"Oh yes! I love reading! Are you telling me you love to read as well? That's great! We can start our own book club! Here, you have to start on this one! I'm sure you will love it!" Sumia said with great enthusiasm, pulling out a large book with the title _Wyvern Wars_ and placing it on his lap. Robin stared at it for a few seconds before deciding he better just accept he was going to read this one, otherwise he would upset her. He was really looking for strategy books or even birth records to find more on his past, but in reality he doubted any of that would be in the Shepherd's barracks. Maybe strategy books would, though since they didn't have a tactician prior to his appearance, he also doubted that.

"Th-thanks Sumia. I will be sure to read this one. I'll even start right now" He said as he opened up the book and stared at the inside picture of a wyvern rider sweeping a princess off her feet. He mentally sighed as he realized what he had gotten himself into. Romances were not exactly his cup of tea, though it did bring a few questions he had been meaning to ask forth in his mind.

"Hey, Sumia? Is there anything going on between you and Chrom?" He asked innocently. Sumia seemed to be taken aback and started blushing again, her fingers twirling in her lap.

"N-no, not at all. He is just our captain, and I admire him very much for that reason only" She said rather robotically. Robin absent mindedly nodded his head.

"Right. You don't have to lie to me Sumia, I could tell there was something in the way you looked at him"

"What!? You….you could? Well…..if…if I am being honest….I do somewhat…sort of…..admire him for…other reasons" Sumia barely choked out the words, as if some deep internal struggle was holding her back.

"And does he know about that?"

Sumia looked at Robin as if he had just said he was the Fell Dragon himself.

"No! Not at all, I'm far too embarrassed to ever tell him that. Besides….he would never want somebody like me….he is a prince after all. I'm just a lowly soldier that can't even fight…" Sumia's words were bitter and she looked down into her lap, not facing Robin. A hand found its way onto her shoulder, comforting her with a gentle grip.

"C'mon Sumia. You can't just give up like that. I'm sure there is something you can do. I bet you can get his attention somehow. Maybe….I don't know, what about if you did some favor for him? Like take care of him after a battle?"

"No…I only can tend to animals. I'm afraid my healing skills on humans are far inferior to Lissa and Maribelle. I might end up only hurting him more…" Sumia said as she shook her head. Robin thought hard, a hand at his chin.

"Cleaning?" Sumia shook her head.

"Poems?" Head shake.

"Magic?" Head shake.

"Swimsuit modeling?" Head shake.

"Uh….cooking?" Silence. More silence. Even more silence. Then finally….

"Yes! I can cook pies! Why didn't I think of that before!? Robin, you are a genius! How can I ever repay you!?" Sumia exclaimed with a lot of vigor as she hugged Robin tightly. He chuckled a little before pulling her off him.

"Well, since I gave you relationship advice, you can give me some. Not now though….I still have some inner conflict I am working through. The next time we speak though, you can give me some."

Sumia nodded her head happily before running back to her room while mumbling something about rhubarb. Robin sat back down in his chair before turning back to the open book. He stared at the picture for a few moments before closing the book and pulling the hood back over his eyes.

* * *

"Alright everyone, we are setting out. Somebody go wake Stahl up, I'm sure Vaike forgot again" Chrom said as the Shepherds gathered outside the barracks at dawn.

"Hey! Teach never forgets things!" Vaike yelled out, adamant about his reputation. That is, until a frantic brown haired man ran outside to join them.

" _Huff….huff…_ Damn it Vaike! You didn't wake me up!" The man, who Robin assumed was Stahl yelled. Vaike looked at his feet while the rest of the Shepherds began laughing. Chrom turned forward and began leading the march, allowing the Shepherds to pick on Vaike on the way there. Chrom finally held up a hand for them to stop when they approached a river. Robin stood next to Chrom and stared out onto the field. A number of Risen had settled in the area, a handful on either side of the river.

"Damn…the Risen have been on the move. Everybody prepare to battle. Robin, any ideas?" Chrom asked. Robin started entering his self-named "tactician mode" and started scanning the battle field. Meanwhile, Vaike was desperately searching through the little amount of clothing he was wearing.

"Shit! I think I dropped my axe!" Vaike yelled, breaking Robin from his concentration. The tactician looked at Chrom for an explanation, but all he got was a head shake. He assumed this had probably happened before, based on the lack of reaction from the prince.

"You mean this axe? You really should be more careful about where you place these. Though, I suppose it would be a good experiment to see how you could forget these, given what miniscule articles of clothing you wear and how hard it would be to conceal your weapon" A lady with red hair, glasses and a pointed hat said as she approached the group from the west.

"Ah, Miriel. Welcome back. I trust whatever experiment you were running at the border went well?" Chrom said to the woman. Miriel adjusted her glasses and gave a small nod as she tossed the axe over to Vaike.

"Quite so. I believe my fire spells will be even more powerful that before now that I figured how to infuse the surrounding heat energy into my tome. This must be the tactician you sent word of, I am Miriel, the researcher and senior mage of the Shepherds. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you. I am Robin. You said you were a mage just now, correct?" He asked. Miriel gave him another nod. He looked back at the Risen in the field and simply smiled.

"Very well. Then this battle will be simple. Fire should be enough to get rid of the Risen, at least the ones close to us. Miriel, please cast your fire spells at the creatures out there, every single one that you can reach. Virion, use your bow to pick off them as well. Hopefully that should be enough to kill them all"

"Why, of course I can do that. After all, I am the archest of archers, I can slay any beast from a mile away. Allow me to show you my skills" Virion spoke poetically as he plucked back the bowstring and sent off arrows at blinding speed into the skulls of the Risen on the far side of the river while Miriel cast fire spells on the Risen nearest them. True to Robin's plan, every Risen was dispatched without any issue. It helped that they were on high ground and none of the creatures seemed to wear armor of any kind. Once the last of the embers from Miriel's spells faded, Robin walked through the now peaceful landscape.

"Hmm…if only every battle could be that easy. Though I have a bad feeling that the longer the Risen are in this world, the stronger they will be. Miriel, could you by chance do some research on their behavior? It would be best tactics wise if we fully understood the enemy"

"Of course. I will stay behind and seek out any groups of Risen I can find. When you return from your mission, I will inform you of my findings. Good luck in Regna Ferox to all of you" Miriel said before turning down the road the Shepherds had come from.

"Don't worry, she can take care of herself." Chrom said while next to Robin. He must have noticed Robin's tense posture and thought it to be concern of Miriel's safety. Robin nodded, though in truth he wasn't worried for her safety, he was tense because he had seen how much of an asset she could be to their force, and they were already losing her.

The group continued on for a few miles before coming upon an open clearing. In the middle stood a winged horse, much to everybody's amazement. Robin stood back as Chrom approached the beast, only to step back quickly when the Pegasus made an aggressive move forward towards the captain. Sumia stepped in front and began stroking its mane, to everybody's surprise.

"Don't worry, captain. Training animals is my specialty. You all go on ahead, I will stay behind and look after it" She said to Chrom. The prince seemed to be uncomfortable leaving her behind, much to Robin's enjoyment, though he eventually agreed. Robin was watching from the tree line, not feeling comfortable approaching the Pegasus. He had a strange discomfort from looking at the beast, though he didn't know why. He guessed it probably had something to do with his past life, maybe an incident where a Pegasus hurt him, though he didn't know for sure. The group finally resolved to move forward, with Chrom looking back over his shoulder at Sumia. Robin stepped out of the trees and walked briskly to catch up, flashing a grin at Sumia on his way. He had hoped she noticed Chrom's concern, though he couldn't be sure. He finally was walking in stride with Chrom, and turned to look at the prince. He studied him for a few seconds before deciding to make his move.

"So….Sumia huh?"

The prince stuttered and stared at Robin, unable to find words. Robin grinned to himself and pulled up his hood, satisfied with that answer. He fell back to the edge of the group, once again lost in thought. They would take a few days to reach the northern country, and he hoped to sort out some of his inner conflicts in that time.

Whether that was possible or not, he wasn't sure. At least the voice had not come back.

Yet.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait but here is the next entry of the prequel. I decided to start some character relationships since this section of the game kind of lacked importance, and we are beginning to see Robin becoming the character he is on Return to Life. There is still going to be more development before he is completely the joking type, but he is getting there. I hope you are all enjoying the story and continue to leave reviews, I love the feedback! Review time!**

 **Nintend-Yes, I didn't want Robin to just be a normal dude like in other stories. Obviously he has a lot of change to go through between the current Robin and the one we see many years later, but it will be a fun journey.**

 **Antex-Yes he will get the sword and a certain part of Return to Life hints at the sword's importance. It will play into the clips of Lucina that are in the beginning of the chapters, bringing a big story arc to a close in one of the most emotional parts of the game. But there is quite some time before that, so buckle down and enjoy the ride.**

 **Daraen-I hopefully will not, though if you want to see how they will end up, their final characterization is seen in the Return to Life.**

 **Ftpkorn- Thank you very much! Hopefully I continue to impress!**

 **ODST- Thank you! I hope to continue to give new life to the story. It would be a bit dull if every interpretation/retelling of the story was the same, so I hope I can give new insight into events and help give some depth into characters.**

 **Dragoon- There will be quite a few differences between the game story and this story. After all, if I just rewrote the game's events to the last letter, this story would be dull and lack any difference to other retellings. I want to give new life to the already great story and make everything have more depth than in the original.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Austin**


	5. Warrior Realm

**Chapter 5: Warrior Realm**

 _"We must defend Ylisstol from the Risen!"_

 _"I can see their leader from hear! Sword hand, ready thyself!"_

 _"Prepare to die!"_

 _"What are you two doing? We don't have time to play. The Risen are truly out there. As well as…him"_

 _"Aww but Lucyyyy~"_

 _"No Cynthia. We must stand vigilant. You as well, Owen. We never know who he will attack next."_

* * *

Robin stared up at the night sky as he lay on his back in the dirt. The Shepherds had settled in for the night, though they were only a half a day ride from Regna Ferox. He had settled on a spot a little up a hill, not far from the camp, but nowhere near any other person. He still had a lot to figure out in his head, like who he was, what the voice he had heard was, his feelings towards the Marth character, and his standing with the Shepherds. The tactician let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, unsure where to even start. Sitting up, he gazed out at the remaining embers of the three fires that had been set up. As they had gone north, the weather kept getting colder and colder. Many members had opted for heavier leather armor to keep warm. Robin had opted for simply buttoning his robe all his way up. It was surprisingly warm, given that it apparently came from the desert.

 _"Even more confusing thoughts to add up to my blank slate of a life. At this rate, I might as well give up on discovering who I really am"_ Robin sighed to himself. A rustling in the trees beside him caused his hand to quickly find his sword. He turned slightly to find Chrom emerging from the bushes, the prince glancing past Robin and instead looking over the camp.

"I see you can't sleep either" Chrom spoke without making eye contact. Robin let off a dry laugh.

"You don't know the half of it. Every time I try to piece my life together, it just leads to more dead ends and questions. I'm considering just giving up on recovering my memories." Robin laid back down in the dirt as he spoke quietly, a hint of resignation in his voice. Chrom was unaffected, and continued speaking stoically.

"Then give up on it"

Robin let out a confused grunt, leading Chrom to finally turn towards him.

"Give up on your memories. I do not care what you might have been prior to meeting us, you have proven yourself a good man. From here on out, write your own story. Don't let somebody else control your destiny, or allow some false sense that who you used to be must decide who you are now"

Robin stared at Chrom, amazed at the honesty and sincerity at the man's words. The message was simple, yet it made a lot of sense. Realizing he was right, Robin decided he could push most of his concerns to the back of his mind, though one of them he still felt he needed to figure out.

"Hmm. An interesting thought, maybe I will take you up on that. By the way, when am I supposed to start my training?" Robin asked.

"Ah, I had almost forgotten. We will most likely get you training with Frederick once we return to Ylisstol. I can't have you tired should we meet more Risen along the way."

" _When we return. That could be a while, I really need to start training so I can control whatever is in my head. I hate the lack of control I have…"_ Robin thought out everything before looking at the ground with troubled eyes.

"Chrom. There is something I need to tell you about."

The captain let out a noise to show he was listening, so Robin continued hesitantly.

"There….there is some voice in my head. It only speaks when my life is in danger. But it talks about letting it control me, and that it can give me unimaginable power. It has only controlled me once, and I killed like it was no big deal. My actions weren't in defense, they were in a blissful state of murder. After that one time….I never wanted it to take over again. That is why I want to train so badly. I believe if I get strong enough, and am able to prevent my life from being in danger, then maybe…..maybe I might be able to stop the voice from coming back"

Chrom stood silent for a while, mulling over the tactician's words. It certainly was something he had never heard of, and it made him more curious about the man's past. However, he firmly believed that Robin's past would not affect him, so after thinking for a while, he took a seat next to his white haired friend. He propped himself up against a tree and closed his eyes as he looked at the night sky, the breeze brushing his blue hair.

"I see. I don't think I can say I've ever heard of that before, but I do know that you aren't the kind of person with an evil heart. And it seems you haven't lashed out at anybody recently, so you must be controlling yourself well. Although, I could see where there would be a problem if our tactician began to fight with bloodlust."

Robin lowered his eyes, ashamed at his prior actions. He knew deep in his heart he didn't enjoy fighting, and he didn't enjoy taking lives. Chrom looked over and noticed a sparkle in the dark night as the moonlight reflected against tears. The tactician tried to cover his crying by hiding his head, but his friend had already seen. The prince smiled as he placed a hand on Robin's shoulder.

"I know you already care deeply about everyone, and I can say with full confidence that we already see you as family. You aren't alone, Robin. Most all of the Shepherds are without their true kin and have their dark pasts, but that just brings us all closer. We are one big family, and we would never see you different because of something in your past."

Chrom slowly started to stand up and dusted off his pants. From seemingly nowhere he drew two wooden swords and tossed one at Robin's feet.

"Now, if you are truly serious about using strength to control this, we best start practicing" Chrom said with a smirk as he assumed a battle stance.

Robin felt moved at his friend going to such lengths to cheer him up, until he realized nobody just happens to be carrying practice swords on them. He let out a dry laugh and stood up, gripping the wooden hilt tightly.

"Prepare yourself!" Robin yelled as he lunged forward.

* * *

A small room with all stone walls resided within the palace of the Western Khan, Basilio. It, along with many other identical rooms, were designed to house fighters in the khan's tournament to choose a champion. The room only held a stack of hay meant to be used as a bed, a small wooden desk with no chair, and a fireplace to keep the cold out. In this small room, a figure dressed all in blue laid beside the fire, trying to soak up all the warmth it could. On the desk resided a mask that the person used to hide their identity. The woman beside the fire had been pretending to be a man for a few weeks now, in an attempt to hide her true identity. Without the mask, nobody would be fooled into believing said person was truly a man.

" _Yet….who could recognize me at this point?"_ She mused to herself. The sword she used would be more of a giveaway than her face, yet she had no qualms with it. Most people just assumed it was a model Falchion, as opposed to the real thing.

Lucina had come north to Regna Ferox in order to fight against her father, in what she could only describe as a selfish desire to fulfill a childhood dream to spar with Chrom at full strength. After she had left the small group of Shepherds in the woods, a memory had surfaced of her being told of the militia's adventures. She knew their next stop would be to Regna Ferox, as that is how it was in the past. The only difference was her timeline had them going for help against Gangrel, not the Risen.

She let out a sigh. Lucina wanted to change as few things leading up to saving her father as possible, yet her carelessness led to the Shepherds already finding the Risen. Although, history seemed to correct itself and nothing was out of place besides everything occurring a little faster than it should. In recalling the past, Lucina had realized that most of her memories were intact, except for one frustrating detail. Whenever she called up certain memories, it felt as if something was missing from them. For example, when she remembered the story about the Shepherd's adventures and where they would be going, she could recall each event described to her perfectly. She could remember being a young child sitting in an adult's lap in the palace's library. The thing she couldn't remember was who was telling her the story. It was as if someone had taken scissors and cut them out of her memory. She couldn't remember a face, a voice, a name, anything about the person. But it wasn't just this memory. Many of her memories featured somebody missing. Or at least many felt like somebody was missing. She pressed both of her hands against her head as she tried to remember, but all that came was a frustrated feeling, as if it was at the tip of her tongue.

Her anguish ended when somebody knocked at her door. Judging by the voice, it was the guard that had been placed to watch her door.

"Marth, your match is in thirty minutes. Get ready and come to the arena" the guard grunted out.

Lucina quickly cleared her head, deciding now was not the time to be thinking over this. She placed her mask back on and picked up Falchion from her bed, then rushed over to the arena. The path to get there was a rather simple stone corridor, only lit by a few torches. It wasn't exactly lavish, but using these types of underground passages kept the cold out.

The passage ended with two large wooden doors, with guards on either side. They gave her a nod and opened each door, exposing a large coliseum covered in snow and filled with spectators. At the far end stood Lon'qu, her uncle, the man favored to win the tournament. Between them in the stands was a covered balcony, where Khan Basilio sat in excitement. Given that there was still a lot of time before the match, Lucina began going over the bits of leather armor she wore, tightening each strap to ensure nothing would come loose. She then closed her eyes and concentrated on the nature around her as she held onto Falchion with both hands.

 _"The wind is blowing right to left. Which means his attacks will be stronger when he attacks from his weak side. If he uses a strong strike from his left, it should leave him open long enough to hit. The ground has a little ice, so I need to keep from using large strides, otherwise I will lose my balance._

Lucina opened her eyes and looked up, noting that the sun was in front of her. She made a final note to use her sword to reflect sunlight into her uncle's eyes should all else fail. When she finished her observations, her head began to hurt again as she realized she could not remember who had taught her the way to observe the fighting environment.

Grunting in frustration, Lucina approached the center of the ring, where Lon'qu stood ready for their fight. Neither competitor said anything to the other. Khan Basilio stood up and yelled in a booming vice.

"Welcome, Marth and Lon'qu! Congratulations to make it to the finals, you are some of the best Regna Ferox has to offer! This will be a fight to first blood. Now, the match to decide the champion begins!"

Once Basilio finished, Lon'qu bolted forward with a lightning quickness. Lucina brought her Falchion up to block his strike just in time, but instead of easing up the myrmidon kept attacking, putting pressure on Lucina to block each hit. His strikes had no time for a counter attack, as Lucina had hoped. However, the onslaught was cut off when Lon'qu slipped slightly on a patch of ice, giving Lucina enough time to bolt to the side and begin her own attack. As she expected, her uncle was quick and held off her attacks with ease. Their movements were so quick that some of the spectators could not even see each attack. Lucina quickly realized that this would become an endurance battle at this rate, and while she had trained hard in her time, she did not want to leave the battle to chance. Lucina raced forward and pressed her sword against Lon'qu's, the two fighters pressed against each other. Apologizing to her uncle in her head, Lucina leaned in ever so slightly.

"Lon'qu" Lucina spoke in her most feminine voice.

As expected, her uncle froze in place, allowing Lucina to quickly run Falchion across his cheek and draw blood. She then stepped back and looked towards Basilio. The khan saw the blood along with Lon'qu's shocked expression and proceeded to announce Lucina's victory. The stadium erupted as Lucina sheathed Falchion and headed back for her room.

* * *

The walls separating Regna Ferox from Ylisse stood tall against the snowy banks. The Shepherds had finally arrived, although a little worse for wear. Robin had pulled his hood up and tried to keep the cold off of him as he scanned the Feroxi archers along the castle gate. It was he, Chrom, Lissa and Frederick that had led the convoy of Shepherds through the snow, the rest of the group had taken shelter in the covered wagons. Robin could understand what made him, Chrom and Frederick stay in front, but he could not figure out why Lissa was here.

"Fr-fr-fr-Frederick….its so c-c-cold!" Lissa chattered as she stood beside the knight and his horse. Frederick the wary wore an annoyed expression as he turned towards the princess.

"Then maybe you should go into the wagons like the rest. You don't need to be out here, Lissa."

Lissa let out a yelp as she clung tighter to the visibly uncomfortable horse.

"It seems as if they don't want us to enter here….. Robin, be ready" Chrom spoke, unfazed by his sister's actions. Robin nodded as they got closer to the fort. A woman dressed in heavy armor emerged at the top of the wall.

"Halt there! You will not cross these borders unless I permit it!" She yelled at the Shepherds, her voice echoing across the undisturbed snow. Chrom looked to Frederick and Robin for advice, but both simply shrugged.

"I am here to speak with Khan Flavia as diplomat for Ylisse!" Chrom shouted back. The woman on the wall sneered back at him.

"And I am Raimi, queen of the entire Ylissean continent! We will not be fooled by your attempts to trespass! Ylisse has sent no words about wanting an audience with the Khan. If you truly want to speak with our ruler, you must first get through me!" The knight, revealed to be Raimi, shouted. At her signal, the archers drew back their bows and fired straight at Chrom. Robin quickly pulled an elfire tome, but drew back his hand before casting. A white blur flew through the sky and swept up Chrom before the arrows could hit.

Robin looked up to see Sumia riding a Pegasus and holding Chrom in a bridal carry. The two seemed to be exchanging words and enjoying their lives up in the sky, completely forgetting the world below. Robin sighed. He knew these two lovebirds were going to end up together, but now really was not the time. In the meantime, he gathered the Shepherds up and readied them for battle.

"Listen up. It seems there are two entrances to get up to Raimi. From what I've seen, they have split their troops equally between the staircases. They also have more troops than us. Therefore, a pincer movement is out. Instead, we will fight our way up the left side and flood the top once we get there. Kellam will take point since he is heavily armored, meanwhile-"

"You-you remembered me!" Kellam shouted out in pure ecstasy. Robin stared at him with a blank face before continuing.

"Meanwhile, Virion and Miriel will cover our rear. Frederick will stay at the base of the staircase to prevent a pincer attack against us. When we finish off the guards at the top, we will form a line and signal Frederick to come up. We will then form a horseshoe and enclose Raimi. Everybody understand?" Robin finished the tactical plan, receiving an "aye" in return. Chrom and Sumia finally came back down as the Shepherds assumed formation.

* * *

Robin's plan worked out beautifully, with Chrom besting Raimi in a one on one duel. As the Feroxi knight gave her apologies and promised to bring the Shepherds to Flavia at once, Robin stared off the wall at the world of snow. He had learned not to think of his past, as it only resulted in a headache, so instead he imagined what his life would turn out to be. Would he spend his whole life as a Shepherd? Would he make it through long enough to see a peaceful world? Would he find his death on the battlefield? It was truly a sad thought, to die when he had barely started to live. At least, he didn't remember living prior to awakening in the field.

 ** _"Don't worry, I won't let us die, vessel."_** The dark voice from before appeared in Robin's consciousness. He was startled, but controlled his reactions as to not frighten the Shepherds.

" _I'm sure you won't. Say, what exactly are you? And why did you call me 'vessel'?"_

Robin almost laughed at the thought of him having a conversation in his head, as if he had an imaginary friend.

" ** _I'm afraid my memory is about as good as yours right now. I just know that we share a body, but you won't let me play. As for the vessel part, I'm not sure. The name just came to me"_**

The tactician stared off into space, trying to take in the voice's words. It claimed it shared his body, an idea that deeply unsettled him.

" _If you share my body, then what does that-"_

"Robin! Come on! We have to get going! We don't have time to rest!" Chrom shouted, interrupting Robin's thoughts. The tactician gave one last look off the wall, then turned and followed the Shepherds to find Khan Flavia.

* * *

 **A/N: Sheesh, it has been a while. Here is a big apology to everyone for my absence. However, I am now on a much more open schedule and have decided I really want to get all of my stories moving. Thus, updates are going to start coming more frequently. Also, for those following** ** _Return to Life_** **, I really didn't mean to leave off on that cliffhanger for so long, but now I am working hard to get the next chapter out by the end of the week. Anyhow, review time!**

 **Antex- thank you! There has been much more planning for this story than I ever thought I would do!**

 **Ajani-thank you! As for your question, it will become apparent that the Grimafied Robin starts losing control. This will be explained more when I release parts told from the future Robin's perspective.**

 **Blacksword-the wars could end sooner, however Robin is scared to use said powers…most of the time. But that is another chapter for this story.**

 **Thanks to those that reviewed, I love the feedback and hopefully some more people will drop their thoughts for this chapter!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Austin**


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